1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to continuous towel cabinets.
2. Prior Art
It is known to provide a continuous towel cabinet having a roller arrangement which allows successive lengths of clean towel to be dispensed into a loop beneath the cabinet and simultaneous rewinding of the equivalent length of soiled towel. The length of towel loop thus remains constant.
In one form of this type of cabinet which is described in British Patent Specification No. 2120205 there is provided both a rewind roller which is mechanically linked to the dispensing roller so that an equivalent length of soiled towel is taken up onto the rewind roller. There are also separate take-up means for withdrawing the trailing end of the towel into the cabinet when the end of the roll is reached. These separate take-up means include a drive roller driven by an electric motor operated from a low voltage energy source, e.g. a battery. During the normal operation of the cabinet, the electric motor is not operated and a loop of towel is maintained permanently beneath the cabinet.
It is also known to provide another type of continuous towel cabinet in which the user extends a loop of towel which is subsequently withdrawn into the cabinet at the end of each cycle of operation either mechanically, e.g. by a spring motor, or more usually by an electric motor. In such cabinets the soiled towel which is taken up, to retract the loop, is usually rewound directly onto the rewind roller. Towel cabinets of this type are employed to minimise the risk of cross-contamination between users. However, it will be appreciated, that in this type of continuous towel cabinet, when an electric motor is used, the motor has to be of sufficient power to turn the whole roll of soiled towel during each cycle of operation. It is thus necessary to provide an electric motor fed by a mains supply which is disadvantageous because an existing mains supply may not be readily at hand near the position in which the towel cabinet is required. Another disadvantage is that if there is an electrical supply failure, clean towel can be dispensed but the towel cabinet cannot operate to withdraw soiled towel. Equivalent mechanical arrangements are complicated, expensive and likely to be unreliable in use.
It has been proposed to provide separate take-up rollers for withdrawing the loop, the length of towel being retracted passing into a storage compartment from which it is rewound onto the rewind roller during the next cycle of operation. However, the means by which it has been intended to drive the rollers have been complicated and unreliable mechanical arrangements.